Detachable garter grips



Nov. 5, 1968 G. s. HAWIE 3,408,708

DETACHABLE GARTER GRIPS Filed Sept. 1, 1967 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent Off ce 3,408,708 Patented s, r ses ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE,

A plastic garter grip frame in which the garment-loop attaching bar has serrations on its lower edge to prevent gathering of the material of the loop at the free end of the bar and escaping, from the bar, through an entrance slot when the tension between the frame and the loop is This invention relates to garter grips, and more particularly to garter grip frames made from somewhat flexible material, such as a plastic composition.

Frames of such materials have sufficient tensile strength for'the use intended. They are, however, subject to being under torsional strains, particularly when subjected'to excessive pulling force applied to'the portion of the frame which receives-the fabric loop which is attached to a garment and forms the connection between the garter grip frame and the garment from which'it depends.

"The frame is provided at its upper end with abar formed by a transverse slot closed at one side of the frame and open at the other side to slidably receive the garment loop. The entrance or throat of the slot extends downwardly and outwardly which forms a depending hook which restricts lateral movement of the loop on the bar and out of the slot under normal strains so long as-the vector of the force is substantially perpendicular to the length of the bar.

However, when the force applied to the bar becomes so excessive that the material connecting the bar to the frame yields so that the bar is inclined upwardlyaway from the frame, the material of the attaching loop slides laterally of the bar towardthe open end of the slot and gathers against the depending hook on the bar, the force being exerted on the end of the bar, when sufiiciently, causes the bar to break off the frame,.thus disconnecting the attaching loop from the frame and allowing the portion of the stocking top to which the frame is attache to drop down from the desired position.

In some cases, the material gathered at the hook portion may cause the bar to be bent away from the frame to such an angle that the material of the loop may eventually slide over the hook portion and off the end of the bar, or the hook portion may break off the bar and permit the loop to slide off the bar.

An object of this invention is to avoid this difficulty and still be able to make the frame of the desired plastic material.

This is accomplished by preventing the lateral movement of the portion of the attaching loop which engages the attaching bar so that it does not gather against the hook and ultimately cause the bar to break or the loop to slip off the bar and escape from the entrance slot. For this purpose, according to the present invention, the bottom edge of the attaching bar is provided with one or more serrations which bite into the fabric from the attaching loop and prevent lateral sliding movement of the loop on the bar, even though the bar yields outwardly angularly from the frame to cause the entrance slot to be widened to such an extent that, in the absence of the serrations on the bar, the bar would break or the loop would slide off the bar under excessive strains.

With the serrated attaching bar of this invention, garter "tooth on the bottom edge of the attaching bar.

grip frames with unserrated attaching bars weretested and it'was found that either the bars broke otf the frame or the attaching loopfslipped off the end of the bar when a pull of 12 pou'nds wasjapplied'tothe loopwhile the lower end pf the frame was heldstationary,'Qtheigarter grip frames of the sameframe construction but with: the attaching bars serrated weretested and it was found that a ull of 20 pounds could be applied, to theloopsyvithout the bar breaking off or the loope slipping off the bar, even though the bar was severely bentunderthe' s ra t,

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings: p

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a garter grip made. according to the present inventionshowing it attachedto a 'dependirig garment attached loop. i I

FIG. 2 'is a front view of a grip FIG. 3 is'an edg I view of the garter :loop shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a front view ,of a grip frame showing a single FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing a diffei ent ,form of serrations on the attaching ban. i

As shown in the accompanying ,drawings, the frame 11 of the garter grip of the present, invention may be made of plastic material and is substantially flat, The frame 11 has an upper portion 12 for attachment to a garmerlt, .a somewhat narrower lower portion 13 for attachment to a stocking top, and an intermediate. portion .14. A button tab 15 of suitable flexible material has at its lower end a button 16 which, after being placed under the upper portion of a stocking, is passed through an entrance opening 16a in the lower portion of the frame and. then pressed intoa restricted button-receiving slot 17 to attach the stocking to the garter grip. The slot 17 isdefined by fins 18 which enter into an annular groove in th'ebutton which takes part of the material of the stocking with it, and thus insures a firm 'grip between the stocking and the frame.

The button tab 15 is made of a flexible strip, usually a fabric tape, the upper end of which has an enlargement forming an anchor 19 which may be freely passed'through a transverse opening 20 from the back to the front side of the frame. Then the anchor 19 is passed edgewi'se through' another slot 21, from the frontside of the frame .the slot 21. The tab is then pulled to cause the anchor 19 to engage the upper notched edge 21a of a bar 21b formed between the opening 20 and the slot 21. In this situation, the bottom tab lies along the back surface of the frame, with the button facing the front, positioned to receive the stocking top and be inserted into the opening and retaining slot 17.

The upper portion 12 of the frame has a transverse slot 22 which is closed at one end, and at the other end has a downwardly and outwardly extending entrance slot 23. Thus, a transversely extending bar 24 is formed on the upper portion 12 of the frame over which may be slid a loop 25 of fabric tape 26 which is secured to the garment and usually depends therefrom.

The slot is provided with the open end for the purpose of permitting the convenient removal of the frame from the garment, which is frequently desired in preparation for laundering the latter and replacement after laundermg.

The inclined entrance slot 23 forms a hook portion 27 on the end of the bar 24. This normally restrains the material of the loop from sliding off the bar 24 accidentally when there is no strain on the garment-attaching tape 26.

The tape 26 is usually slightly wider than the length of the slot that material of the loop engaging,

the bar 24 is slightly gathered;

In normal use, the stocking is attached to the garter grip with sufficient tension to hold the stocking on the leg of the user, smoothly and without sagging, and this places bending strains on the bar 24 which, being made of somewhat flexible plastic material, may be bent in the area 28 of its connection to the main body of the frame. This causes'the bar 24 to lie in a plane more orless inclined to the horizontal depending on the amount ,of strain to which it is subjected if sufiicient force is applied. Heretofore, the loop 25 was caused to shift on the bar toward the open endof the slot, and gather against the hook 27.This concentration of the force of the loop 25 at the free end of the bar 24 increased the tendency of the bar to bend outwardly. f

As a result, if the tension of the loop on the garter gripincreased substantially because of the improper-lap tachnient of the stocking top to the" garter grip, and/ or the movements of the body of the wearer because all the force is applied to the free end of the bar 24, the, latter bends to such an extent that it breaks off the frame in the 'vicinity of the area 28 with the result that the frame and stocking became detached from the loop 25 and hence the garment. It has happened that the concentration of force at the free end of the bar has caused the hook portion 27 to be broken off the bar and the loop to slide off the bar. Sometimes the material of the loop which became gathered at the hook 27 would fold over the hook 27 and escape through the entrance slot 23 which was made wider by the bending of the bar 24. The frame and the loop having become disconnected would allow the stocking to drop to the discomfort and possible embarrassment of the wearer.

I have discovered that, if the attaching loop 25 is prevented from sliding laterally on the bar 24 so as to keep the material of the loop from gathering at the hook 27, the loop 25 will remain on the bar 24 even when substantially increased and excessive stresses are applied to the bar.

To keep the loop 25 from gathering at the hook 27, there is provided, by this invention, along the lower edge of the bar 24, notches forming one or more teeth or serrations 29 which indent or bite into the portion of the fabric of the loop engaging the underside of the bar. Thus, when excessive tension is applied to the bar 24 by the loop 25, the force is distributed along the entire length of the bar and not concentrated at the free end of the bar because the material of the loop does not gather at the hook 27 but remains in engagement with the bar for substantially its entire length, and this substantially reduces the amount that the bar pull.

The serrations 29 may extend at spaced intervals from the closed end of the slot 22 t the hook 27 if desired, but if they do not they are preferably located adjacent the closed end of the slot, asshown in,the drawings.

There may be aplurality of serrations 29, as shown in an u d et m n W FIGS. 1, 2 or 3, or a single tooth 30, as shown in FIG. 4,

' of the slot 22.

in which the tooth has an undercut edge 3l'adjacent and facing the closed end of the slot. The'undercut edge 31 is positioned to engage the fabric well within the selvage of the loop material and bites 'into the fabric to prevent lateral movement of the loop toward the open end In FIG. 5 there is shown another form of serration in which two notches form a single tooth 29a.

I claim: 1

1.A one-piece plastic frame for a detachable garter grip having a lower gripping portion having a buttonreceiving slot and an upper portion for attachment to the loop of a garment tab, said upper portion having a.

transverse slot closed at one side of the frame and atthe other side of the frame having an entrance opening extending downwardly and outwardly through which the loop of the garment tab may be passed, said slot forming a transverse bar, the lower end of which engages said'loop, and said entrance opening forming a hook portion on the end of said bar to retain said loop on said bar against casual removal, said bar having on its loop-engaging edge adjacent and facing the closed end of the transverse slot a single tooth and provided with a flat crest having substantially the same lateral length as the button-receiving slot adapted to engage the fabric of the loop and prevent lateral sliding movement of the loop on the bar to- Ward the open end of the slot and excessive gathering of the material of the loop at the hook portion of the bar.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, in whichflsaid single tooth has an undercut edge adjacent and facing the closed end of the slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 348,871 9/1886 Wales 24-199 1,386,788 8/1921 Levit. 2,172,309 9/ 1939 Langhammer 24245 2,463,068 3/ 1949 Tilly 24'-245 3,224,063 12/1965 Jonas 24-245 1,478,783 12/1923 Ferriday. 1,687,370 1 0/ 1928 La Vigne.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner. 

